The legend of the Fifteen Incarnates
by Yygdrasil
Summary: There he stood inside the boundaries of the sanctuary. The area around him filled with the lifeless bodies of his most recent spree. He reached behind himself and pulled out his mask, the two blood trails streaking from the eye holes striking fear into his enemies hearts. He was the Night Stalker and he was here for revenge.
1. The legend

Thousands of years ago, there were fifteen immortals amidst the vast emptiness. Each of them governed a section of this new universe. First there was the King, regal and respected, he was the leader of the fifteen. He controlled light and color. The king created stars, bringing light and warmth to the emptiness. These stars came in a number of colors, rose red, cobalt blue, emerald green, and golden yellow.

This new space, bathed in color, needed something else thought the second. He was the Elder, wise and calm, he brought wisdom to the fifteen. He governed stone and earth, thus he created massive spheres to surround the stars. These rudimentary planets were plain and unappealing and so the King granted them color all their own.

This place was without darkness and so the third took action. He was the Shadow, silent and deadly, he brought neutrality to the fifteen. He ruled over death and darkness, creating shadows to counter the light, leading to the creation of… darker places. The clash between the two had manifested at the beginning of time.

Death wandered the world now with nothing to kill, so the fourth took action. He was the Angel, kind and peaceful, he brought a sense of calm to the fifteen. He guarded life, bringing it with him everywhere he went. Grass and flowers sprang up around his feet, animals grew in their midst.

Unruly and wild the beasts ravaged the planets and so the fifth took action. She was the dragon, mighty and wild, she brought instinct to the fifteen. She controlled the beasts and fire. For the first time order was seen on the many planets.

This new sense of calm was short lived as the sixth intervened. The sixth was unique, there were two of them Good and Evil, divided and intelligent, they brought factions to the fifteen. He noticed a lack of calamity, to resolve this he created the Grimm, dark creatures that inhabited the land of the shadows. Good then created man to inhabit the light, there hearts were frail and flawed.

The seventh saw this and decided to give the humans protection in the form of aura. She was the Spiritualist, thoughtful and generous, she brought insight to the fifteen. She controlled the souls of the living, man and monster alike. With the help of the King she gave the frail creature known as man aura, a force like no other. It provided defense and healing to the host and if properly trained it could be used as a weapon against the Grimm.

This weapon known as aura was hard to use and so the eighth made a change. She was the Smith, skilled and quiet she brought stubbornness to the fifteen. She governed metal and minerals, Blessing the planets with many metals and gemstones. Including one that stood out amongst the rest, Dust or heterain as it was known to the immortals. This crystal had the powers of the elements stored within it, lighting, ice, fire, stone, water, wind, light and shadows. She then taught man how to forge and use weapons made of metal.

Crude and misused these weapons were no substitute for the quality of training used by the aura users entitled ceremoniaists. The ninth changed all of that, He was the Titan, skilled and refined, he brought technique to the fifteen. He gifted man with many combat disciplines(martial arts and sword styles). Four of which used ones aura as a weapon the Nomadic style, the Ageaus style, the Nova style and the Eternal style. With this man began to push back the Grimm.

Man soon realized that their numbers were no substitute for the limited number of ceremoniaists, and so the tenth took it upon herself to give each man a unique skill. She was the Magician, clever and intelligent, she brought purity to the fifteen. She honed man's aura, making from it Semblance, a unique attribute to be passed down through the generations. This new power made every human a valuable asset both on and off the battlefield.

Now that there was a defense man could create civilization but they knew not how, and so the eleventh enlightened them. He was the Craftsman, creative and artistic, he brought appreciation to the fifteen. He taught man how to lay stone, how to build cities, how to craft art. With these new found skills they fashioned empires, causing strife and conflict amongst themselves.

Mans population boomed and famine settled itself down for the long run, thus meriting the attention of the twelfth. He was the Naturalist, calm and serene, he brought serenity to the fifteen. He descended with grace in order to teach man the secrets of farming and how to appreciate the beauty of nature. Ridden of famine man thrived without strife.

This troubled the thirteenth as it was no fun. She was the Sinner, dishonest and ignorant, she brought sin to the fifteen. She released her children into the world to torment man, ignorance, wrath, lust, envy, sloth, greed, pride, and gluttony. These once prosperous and peaceful cities were now full of crime and discrimination.

Man was so destructed with fighting themselves that the Grimm became a problem of lesser concern, but the Grimm push harder destroying much of the civilization, and so the fourteenth went to work. She was the Enchantress, noble and theocratic, she brought symbology to the fifteen. She instructed the ceremoniaists on a new ceremony, the Glyph, a method of harnessing and projecting aura and dust. These skills caused the ceremoniaists to be worshiped as incarnates of the immortals.

Man could only learn , he could not discover and the last immortal parted her gift to them. She was the Librarian, intelligent and wise, she brought legends to the fifteen. She granted knowledge to man enlightening them to the wonders of the world. And so for the first time the truths of the fifteen immortals were written down.

As a final gift each of the immortals created three relics of extreme power. And so the souls of the immortals once again laid dormant till there incarnates were born, to host the immortals so that they could fight for or against the destruction of this world known as Remnant. But as with all things, these truths turned into legends and then into stories, before they disappeared entirely, fading into the earth. That is until the last manuscript of the immortals was found.


	2. Hate and Anger

Russet stood in the middle of the ancient abandoned library, holding the book he had just picked off the shelf. It was entitled "The fifteen Immortals" He pulled out a notebook. Flipping through the pages he stopped on one about halfway through, reading it a slime grew on his face. He had found it, the text that had eluded him for two years. He had found pieces of it in multiple places but never the complete work. This was the one text he had found in all ancient civilizations, it was curios that one work was commonly used across warring nations.

He was tall about 5'10" and 150 pounds, he had brown hair and a hazel eye, his left eye concealed below an eyepatch. Around his neck was a black agate pendant, on the middle finger of his right hand was a black ring of an unknown metal. Two swords were attached to his belt, one appeared to be a regular katana except that the whole sword was black, the other appeared to be very unconventional in shape, it was entirely straight, the sheath and hilt were entirely made of wood, if it was not for a slight crack the sheath would be indistinguishable from the hilt. He wore a short sleeved hooded black coat(similar to that of Kirito's at the end of SAO) and black pants.

A crash was heard from the back of the library. Russet whipped his head around only to see a major ursa charging at him. The ursa was inches from its prey when it vanished and seconds later the ursa felt a blade slice through it. The two halves of the ursa fell to the floor as Russet sheathed Midnight Cadence(the black sword). He continued to peruse the shelves until he had about twenty books of varying age and size.

Stepping out of the library he sighed, it was going to be a long walk to the bike. He stepped onto the narrow path that winded through the forest, all the books in the bag that was slung over his shoulder. Everything around him was glowing a beautiful blue, the entire world seemed to slow and rest even if just for a minute to appreciate the magnificent sight. He had to hurry as to not be caught by the horde of Grimm that passed through every night. Of course he could go to the sanctuary that existed there, not even the Grimm dared enter it. It was so close to night that he decided the latter was best option and proceeded to the sanctuary, as he entered he couldn't help thinking that it looked like the ruins of an ancient temple that had long since collapsed. He laid down his two bags, one full of books the other with more… Personal items, from the latter he removed his most recent notebook and proceeded to write the events of the day along with notes about the books he collected, mentioning a few in particular. One was the legend the other two were entitled, "the training of a ceremonialist" and "the awakening of the incarnates" both covered fairly obvious topics.

He looked over at the crystal clear water and began to strip. As his black coat dropped away it revealed his toned body, many scars on his front and back. The largest scar was on his back, it was circular, he got it from a mountain deathstalker. The only things left on his body was the necklace and ring, he moved into the water till it covered his chest. He looked at the cliff that sat under the surface. He breathed in sharply and descended off the cliff swimming farther and farther down. Then he pointed his body at the cliff and swam into an underwater cave. Once inside he surfaced and proceeded to climb onto the rock floor. Looking around him Russet was amazed once again by the beauty of this place. Massive crystals of dust protruded from the walls glowing red, yellow, blue and pink to name a few. He sat on the floor and opened his left eye, it was black except for the glowing red pupil, exactly like that of a Grimm.

This eye was Russet's curse, since birth he had possessed the eye of a Grimm and this secret was kept from the whole world. Until he was ten, Russet had never left the research facility that he was born in. While there he had nothing to do but undergo tests and training, he mastered three martial arts The nomadic style, the Ageaus style and the nova style. He was adept at wielding a number of weapons and was trained in the use of glyphs and aura control, he was the modern equivalent of a cerimonialist. He learned of the power that the cursed eye granted him, aura sight, the ability to see aura, night vision, and beast incarnate, in exchange for self control the user gains a huge boost in physical strength and speed.

About two years ago Russet had lost his only friend, Jade, the one who gave him the name Russet. Before that he went by Zero, it was his subject number when he lived at the facility and is still his code name. Jade died at the hands of the Scorching Princess, someone he would never forgive, so in exchange for his extreme power he traded his emotions. All except hate and anger.

The next day Russet woke amongst the dust. Shit, he thought, I need to get back, school starts in three days. He was attending Beacon academy at the request of an ally in high places, the prospect bore him, what could he possibly gain from going to that place. He complied because Jade had always talked about going there. He proceeded to swim back to The surface, upon arrival he dressed, grabbed his bags and ran down the path. Soon he reached his motorcycle and quickly rode off. Soon the city crested the horizon, the tall buildings and floating islands visible even 50 miles away. He stopped at a small building about 25 miles out of the city, this place was deep in the woods, somewhere you have to be looking for to find.

Stepping off the bike, Russet walked over to a single grave. On it read the simple words "My only friend, My only ally, My greatest rival. Here rests Jade Novain." He knelt in front of the grave and said "Hey... the trip was great.. but as always I wish you could have been there." He stood and walked to the door of the building, pushing gently the door swung open revealing a barren single room. He produced a keycard from his bag, pressing it lightly against the floor. The panel of the floor lifted, revealing a ladder leading deep below ground.

Russet stepped off the ladder and into a well light hallway, He produced an earpiece from his bag and put it in saying " This is Zero, online and moving to my office."

A few seconds later he heard a voice on the comm say "This is Atrox, me and Volans will meet you there."

Russet responded "Where is Titi?"

Atrox replied "He's already there."

Russet approached a set of large steel doors, on them were the words "The Hunt." He swiped his keycard and the doors swung open. He then stepped inside.


	3. The Team

Russet stepped forward, he was saluted by all he passed. He stepped up to a large wooden door, once again swiping his keycard, the door swung open. The three men standing inside saluted before Russet said "Please stop guys, you know I hate it when you do that."

"We know Russ we were just messing with you." Said Alex.

Alex was taller than Russet, probably 6'2" and 180 pounds of pure muscle. He had blond hair, maroon eyes and a giant grin. He was wearing a custom version of standard Hunt combat attire, brown cargo shorts, a green skin tight shirt, and a red coat. He was carrying no visible weapons, but Russet knew that Alex always carried a standard M9 pistol and a long dagger on the inside of his coat.

"So how was your trip?" Asked Terrace.

Terrace was slightly shorter than Russet, 5'9 ½" and 145 pounds. He had black hair, black fox ears and red eyes. He was wearing custom attire as well, a brown skin tight shirt, green shorts, and a sleeveless black hoodie. He had straps from a holster crossing his chest and meeting on his back where four gladius short swords were sheathed.

"Great, I finally found the text on the fifteen immortals."

"Wait, you mean the whole thing?" Asked Howler.

Howler was the same height as Russet, 5'10" and 150 pounds. He had silver hair, teal eyes and a prominent nose. He wore a white medic robe with grey pants and a grey shirt. He wasn't carrying any weapon but was more than competent without one.

"Yeah the whole thing"

"After all those years of looking you finally found it, huh." Said Alex.

"Yeah, finally. So how are things running around here?" Asked Russet as he put down both bags and removed his swords, leaning them against the desk. He then sat down placing his mask on the table. The mask had two eye holes and other than a streak of red descending from each eye hole had no distinguishing features.

"Works been moving along nicely and Blood Lotus Weapons is doing well." Said Terrace.

"Yeah and we found out that the school will be providing housing." Said Alex

"Mm, good to know, Howler give me the update on the status of the Hunt." Said Russet.

"The King has yet to move and The elder died but other than that everything's the same."

"Damn, what happened to the elder?"

"He acted on his own and got caught by Salem." Said Alex.

"Shit, so she's one step closer to finding us." Said Russet.

"So what's our next move?" Asked Howler.

"Give me some time to think." After they had left the room Russet looked at the Midnight Cadence and said "what would you do, huh Jade?"

The next morning Russet rose from his simple cott and dressed. He was wearing black jeans and a simple black hoodie with black Chucks on his feet. He met Alex, Terrace and Howler out by the ladder.

"Ready?" Asked Terrace. He was wearing a green shirt and brown shorts with a brown overcoat, two of his swords sheathed on his belt.

"Yeah, let's move." Said Russet.

"You're not bringing Midnight?" Asked Alex. He was wearing the exact same outfit as yesterday.

"No, Do you really think I need it in the city?"

"I for one don't think you do." Said Howler. He was wearing the same grey shirt, this time with a white jacket.

"Let's go." Said Terrace. One by one they climbed up the ladder this time stopping at the floor below the surface, the garage. Russet walked over to his bike and started the engine. Moving towards the ramp, Russet pressed a button on the handle bar. A large section of forest floor lifted up as the four bikes sped out.

An hour later the four were sitting around a table at a cafe, eating breakfast.

"How long has it been since you had a proper meal, Russ?" Asked Alex

"Since I left a week ago."

"Damn these eggs are good." Said Howler.

"So are the sausages, but it doesn't rival your cooking, Terrace." Said Alex

"Thanks, but breakfast is my weak point, I'm not sure how confident I would be."

Russet's head snapped around as he stared at a girl in a red hooded cloak and a girl with long yellow hair, wearing a leather jacket. Their auras were so pure and full of potential. "Holy shit, a girl caught Russet's eye?" Asked Alex "Piss off, Alex." Said Russet

He looked back only to see that they were gone. Damn, he thought, they were great candidates to be incarnates. Russet found out five years ago that he was the perfect candidate to be the incarnate of the Shadow, but even he didn't have an aura that perfect. If more people like them are at our school, damn it'll be a playground, thought Russet.

An hour later they pulled up in front of a store. The sign read "Blood Lotus Weapons" It was a store that Russet had bought to sell the weapons of his victims and surplus from the Hunt. He swung the door inward, stepping into the dimly light weapons and accessories shop "hey Andrew." Said Terrace.

"Hello guys, don't see you around here often" said Andrew. He was tall and muscular, 6"1' and 200 pounds. He had blue hair, brown eyes and a scar on his forehead. He was wearing a brown leather apron and thick leather pants, standard smith attire.

"Yeah don't have time to stop by, but now that we're living here we can take shifts." Said Alex cheerfully.

"Fucking finally, I get time off." Said Andrew relieved.

"So how have things been today?" Asked Howler.

"Business is great, all the new kids are scouting supply shops, and since Russ gets us the highest quality dust on the planet, people love our shop." Said Andrew.

"And since we can make custom ammunition and do custom weapon repair." Said Russet.

That night they stayed in The upper loft of the Blood Lotus. Little did they know of the events of the coming days…


	4. the sleepless night

**A/N- I am, as you can tell, the author. I am currently looking for people to help me with the writing of this story. PM me if you would like to help. Favorite, follow and share if you enjoy my work and the story.**

Aris, Terrace and Howler were frantically running around the loft of the Blood Lotus. "Russ you could have woken us up earlier that 20 minutes before we have to be there" said Aris as he pulled his pants on. Russet was sitting at the table, fully dressed in his signature black coat, sipping his coffee and reading the crime section of his daily Hunt report. "Well sorry You slept past your alarms" said Russet sarcastically. He picked up his bag and headed downstairs, in five minutes the other three came running down the stairs and out the door. The three of them got to the boarding point just as the last ship started boarding. "You barely made it" said Russet.

"Fuck you" said Howler.

The airship lifted off and began its journey towards Beacon academy. Idle chatter filled the open cabin of the airship. "So, do you know what the admissions ceremony will be like this year, Russ?" Asked Terrace.

"Of course I do. Our insiders aren't just decoration."

"Yeah I know so how's it going to work?"

"We'll be launched into the emerald forest, first person you make eye contact with is your partner, proceed to a preset location retrieve an artifact. Your team is you your partner and the other pair who grabbed the matching artifact."

"So what's our artifact?" asked Howler.

"The black queen."

"What are our pairs?" asked Terrace.

"Me and howler,you and Aris."

"Okay that works for me." Aris said.

The transport ship landed and the crowd emptied onto the walkway leading to Beacon Academy. Russet walked behind the crowd, he was taking in his surroundings. He thought to himself "what's life going to be like here?" He had never really been tied to one place except the facility, so the prospect of living in one place was unfamiliar to him. he looked forward, towards a courtyard and saw an explosion. "Damn" he thought "that looks interesting.

"hey Russ, what do you think happened up there?" asked Aris.

"I think it was the result of a dust overcharge." he responded

"yeah, you can feel the energy from here." said Terrace.

"hey not everyone has the ability to sense energy." said Aris.

"when do we head to the auditorium?" asked Howler.

"not long." responded Terrace.

The three of them walked towards the auditorium, leaving Russet in the courtyard. He was looking for something, something very rare, a pure aura. "dust reactions like that don't occur for no reason." he though. He looked in the direction of the explosion, and there it was, the pure red aura he had seen yesterday. Standing beside it were a flawless black and white auras. "wow, I never thought I would see so many in one place." he thought this as he saw the crimson cloak the girl was wearing. He smiled thinking "what a coincidence."

As he stepped into the auditorium Aris waved him over. Russet looked around and felt a stabbing pain in his left eye, "this is why I hate crowds, too many people." Most of the auras were brown, the disgusting color of impurity, but a few, vibrant auras, asserted themselves in the sea of brown. He placed his hand over his eye and slowly the auras faded from sight, the pain died down and the introduction began.

The four friends now sat in a ballroom, throngs of people moving around them.

"Man, this is a lot of people for a quote elite school" said Aris, making air quotes when he said elite.

"the entrance exam probably weeds out a lot of them" said Terrace.

"yeah, I can't imagine that the school doesn't reduce its numbers drastically" said Howler.

Russet wandered away from the group, he saw a few faces he knew. His travels payed off at times like these, knowing lots of people could definitely pay off. He walked over to one of the far walls where he finally dropped his bag. He was alone, his island of refuge in a sea of people. He leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes. He fell into a restless sleep.

Sweating, Russet shot up, he was panting. He sighed, placing his hand over his eyepatch, "It's not happening, the past is… passed. nothing I can change there." He whispered. He got up and walked across the ballroom, heading for the bathroom. Along the way he passed by the red aura he was seeing everywhere, it was laying next to a vibrant yellow aura. "wow, they seem to gather in herds here." He whispered. He looked at his scroll, he had plenty of time before the others started getting up.

He stepped outside the building, greeted by a chilled breeze he began to walk. Soon he was in the courtyard, he sat down on a bench facing the statue. He didn't like this feeling, the feeling of uncertainty was weighing down on him like a wet blanket. He placed his hand on the pommel of the Midnight Cadence, "the last time I felt this way was just after you died, Jade." He said despite not knowing if anyone was around to hear him.

The wind gusted behind him, without looking, he knew someone was about to join him on the bench. He didn't look back at the person as they sat on the bench. "Well hello there" said a familiar voice.

"Hello there Professor" said Russet, realizing that the voice belonged to the professor who had spoken that afternoon, the famous Professor Ozpin.

"what brings you here on a night such as this?" asked the professor.

"I guess my body isn't used to sleeping for long periods of time."

"what did you do that regimented your body like that?"

"A lot of traveling and camping, if you can call it that."

"there was a time when I lived that life, although I didn't start as early as you. If you don't want to get in trouble you should probably get back to the ballroom." said the professor as an orange light crested over the horizon.

"It would seem so." said Russet as he stood up and began walking away The two had never looked at each other.

Russet sat down in the exact same spot he had started in, and he waited for others to wake up.


End file.
